Learning nonparametric ordinary differential equations from noisy data

Abstract

Learning nonparametric systems of Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) $\dot{x}=f(t,x)$ from noisy data is an emerging machine learning topic. We use the well-developed theory of Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Spaces (RKHS) to define candidates for $f$ for which the solution of the ODE exists and is unique. Learning $f$ consists of solving a constrained optimization problem in an RKHS. We propose a penalty method that iteratively uses the Representer theorem and Euler approximations to provide a numerical solution. We prove a generalization bound for the $L^2$ distance between $x$ and its estimator. Experiments are provided for the FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillator, the Lorenz system, and for predicting the Amyloid level in the cortex of aging subjects. In all cases, we show competitive results compared with the state-of-the-art.